


Worth the Pain

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Warning Labels [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean Is Best Big Brother, M/M, The Crap Life of Moving A Lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5781319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Cas have been dating for a while, and now Sam's starting to realize he's got a big problem.</p><p>Note: the underage warning is for the series, not for this particular work, and mostly precautionary. At least the first few parts will not have any explicitly underage sex involved. (Some of Dean's girlfriends may be 17, but their ages are never given beyond "high school senior".) Sam and Cas are 20 months apart, with Sam being 15 and Cas 16 the first time they have sex. I work at a high school, so I know this is not nearly as uncommon as certain people would like us to believe, but my policy on potentially triggering or squicky situations is better to overtag than undertag.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. March 14

After his date, Dean came home to find Sam curled up on the couch, head resting on his knees. All thoughts of Rhonda were forgotten as Dean took his usual place, looking at Sam in concern. This was not how Sam usually looked after a date with Cas. Quite the opposite. For that matter, where the hell was Cas? “Dean? Can I talk to you?”

“Have I ever not listened when you needed me to?” Dean asked. Sure, he didn't listen a lot of the time, but this was different. Sam looked so lost.

“No, but… I’m kinda freaking out here, and I don’t wanna freak you out,” Sam said.

Dean wanted to reach over and hug him, but that wasn’t how to get Sam through this and he knew it. “Sammy, that’s what I’m here for. To freak out with you so you aren’t dealing with crap alone. What’s wrong?”

“I…” Sam stopped, and restarted with, “Cas and I went skating. Turns out we’re both terrible, but we had a great time. But when he brought me home… he said he loves me.”

Well, shit. “I can’t say I’m surprised by that. Which way are you freaking out here?”

Sam hugged his knees a little closer to his chest. It amazed Dean just how small Sam could make himself when he wanted to. “I… I think I might love him too, and if I don’t, I’m close. Dean, I thought this would go a few weeks and we’d have fun and then he’d realize that I am nowhere near good enough for him. Once you graduate, we’re leaving. That’s three months away, and if things keep going like they have, I will be in love.”

“I can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Dean said with a sigh. “Been expecting to hear something like this for a week. Crappy situation, Sammy. What are you gonna do?”

“I can’t break up with Cas because I’m falling in love with him!” Sam said. “But the longer this goes, the more it’s gonna hurt when it ends.”

“Sammy, my relationships do tend to fizzle. I’m on, what, my third girlfriend since we moved here? I thought this would too, or I’d have let Cas go on believing you were off-limits because you’re my brother.” Dean wished he could do better at giving his little brother advice here. Still, there was one thing he knew for sure. “You need to talk to Cas. He gets a say in this too, you know. You can’t just ignore what this is gonna do to him. But what do you want to do?”

“I want…” Sam stopped to think for a moment. “I know it’s gonna hurt in the end, but I want to have the good parts, too. When’s the next time I’ll get to be somewhere I can be with a guy for four and a half months?”

“I don’t blame you,” Dean said. “Talk to Cas, make sure he understands that it’s over in June no matter what you guys want. Whatever you guys do, I’ll do whatever I can to support you.”


	2. March 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam talks to Cas about June.

As soon as he felt sure that everyone at the Godwins' would be awake, Sam called Cas and asked him to come over. It was already weird, Cas not spending the night, but he’d decided to leave when Sam started freaking out. When Cas arrived, Sam greeted him with a hug. “I’m sorry about last night, Cas. I kinda freaked out on you.”

“I spooked you, and I’m sorry,” Cas said. “I’m just hoping that I’m right about why you got so scared.” He followed Sam to the living room where he settled into his usual place on the couch. Sam chose to sit on the floor, facing him.

“Cas, I… I don’t think I’m quite where you are yet, but I’m getting there, and it probably won’t take much longer. So it’s not because I’m scared of those feelings,” Sam said.

“You’re worried about June,” Cas said.

Sam blinked. “You’ve thought of that?”

“Yes. Sam, when I asked you out… I thought you’d say no, or that you’d come to your senses by now,” Cas admitted.

“I thought you would,” Sam said. “You need that warning label even more than I thought. But when I leave…”

“It’s going to hurt,” Cas finished. “So if you want to break up, I understand. I’ll let you go and wish you well. I meant to keep this simple, shallow, but I don’t think my heart got the memo.”

“Is that what you want?” Sam asked.

Castiel shook his head vehemently. “No. I want to have three months of loving someone who loves me back, minus however long it takes you to get there. It’ll hurt in the end, yes, but I think you’re worth it. But if you disagree, then trying to hold you would hurt us both worse than letting you go, I think.”

“Three months is three months more than I ever thought I’d have, given how Dad keeps moving us around. But… I don’t think you would, but I’d like to hear you say it… I don’t want to rush anything just because we know we have a time limit,” Sam said.

“I promised I’d never push you to do anything you didn’t feel ready for, and I meant it,” Cas said. “This time limit only changes one thing for me.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked cautiously.

“We haven’t had a real fight yet. And we might not, thanks to the time limit, but if we do, I don’t want to waste time sulking or punishing each other for it. Even little fights, I think we need to try to resolve them quickly,” Cas said.

“That’s a perfectly reasonable request, and I’ll try,” Sam said. “We good?”

“We’re good,” Cas said. “Do you think Dean will be okay with this?”

Sam pulled himself up from the floor to sit on the couch beside Cas, cuddling into his side. “I think I’d do it anyway, but he said he’d support whatever we decided to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? Short. But important.
> 
> Up next: John Finds Out. Probably starting this weekend!

**Author's Note:**

> This one's relatively short. And angsty. Sorry about that.


End file.
